Dig up every ping! You never know what you’ll find

Recently my wife and I visited a local homeowner in Methuen to metal-detect their property. The home was situated in a rural area and dated back to the early 1900s. Over the years, many landscape alterations took place and the thought of finding anything was unlikely. However, we accepted the challenge and began our adventure. We were using our Garrett AT Pro’s detectors and Garrett pin-pointers for accuracy recovering items.

As we began the hunt, the majority of targets landed us common modern coins, lots of them. We must have dug over $5 in change that day, but it didn’t stop us.

After about three hours of digging, the vintage-treasure gods struck. It was the perseverance to dig everything! That is a common saying in the metal-detecting community: to dig every target and not give up. My wife hit the first relic, recovering an old police badge. We have yet to identify it as it is in rough shape, but could date back to the late-1890s when similar badges were produced.

Minutes later, in the same area, she found pieces of an old harmonica reed (the inside mechanics of the musical instrument), a common find dating back to the mid-1800s. These harmonicas were cheap and mass-produced for an easy way to pass the time back then; in fact, we find pieces everywhere.

As we continued hunting, great vintage relics soon began to emerge. I recovered some 1800s horse buckles, followed by an old spoon ladle with markings tough to read, but dating back to the early 1900s, all in line with the original dates of the home’s beginnings. Several other odd relics were also recovered including cast metal toy parts, an old broken key and a small identification plate worn from time being buried.

With time on the day running out, we continued to detect, digging up several U.S. pennies. These signals are exciting because they are equal to vintage gold, silver and copper treasures. We continued to dig everything, and – next to an old tree – I hit a signal that was like every other common penny or dime, just a bit deeper than the rest. Digging down about 10 inches, I used my pin-pointer and – low and behold – an old dime was visible.

After brushing off years of dirt, it revealed itself as a silver 1912 Barber Dime. Barber Dimes were minted between 1892 and 1916. Designed by Charles E. Barber, it features a portrait of Lady Liberty in a Phrygian (ancient European mythology) cap, the date of the year it was minted with the words “United States of America.” The obverse features a laurel wreath containing the words “One Dime” in the center and some coins have an added mint mark stating where they were made; Philadelphia (no mark), Denver (D), San Francisco (S) and New Orleans (O). The dimes are 90% silver and 10% copper. Notable dates include 1894-S that is quite valuable in the millions of dollars, considering only 24 were ever minted! The 1895-O, although not as valuable, is highly sought after because so few were made. And, finally, the 1901-S is another semi-key date with high demands for low circulation. Many other dates also have some interesting value based on condition and low mintage. Our 1912 recovery has no real historical significance other than its silver content, with a value around $20. A side note includes that the Barber design also yielded the same design in the quarters and half-dollars (1892-1915), with the 1894-S dime still the most valuable.

An interesting fact: Recovering Barber Dimes in New England is a gift to metal detectorists. The reason is that most of this currency was minted in the southern and western United States while very few made the journey to New England. New England detectorists know that, because of this fact, the 1894-S could be hidden waiting for someone to find it! Of the 24 created, only nine are confirmed to have survived … with 15 still lost in time.

A morning and early afternoon of treasure-hunting in a yard where no one believed we would recover anything. As a metal detectorist, you dig everything you detect. Had I figured that Barber Dime was just another modern penny and skipped over it, I would never be writing about it in this article. This is why we love this sport! Special thanks to the Methuen residents for allowing us to find lost treasures on their property and, thus, share those adventures with you.

Methuen father/son treasure hunters Steve and Jonathan Stewart were the August 2019 MethuenLife cover story. They run YouTube, Facebook and Instagram accounts called Mass Metal Detecting and have followers around the globe. They love to save history and enjoy talking about it. If you’d like to invite them to your property for a hunt, you may be included in a future article! Please drop them a note via MethuenLife@msn.com.

This 1912 Barber Dime was recently discovered in Methuen – a wonderful find, considering most of them were minted in the southern and western United States.
Photos by Steve Stewart